


No One Ever Mentions Her Name

by briwd



Category: NCIS
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-26
Updated: 2013-10-26
Packaged: 2017-12-30 12:04:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1018390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/briwd/pseuds/briwd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A tag to NCIS Season 11, Episode 5, Once A Crook. An interpretation of what<br/>could have happened after Tony DiNozzo went home to get some rest - and before<br/>he finally got some much-needed sleep.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No One Ever Mentions Her Name

It had been a long day, and a long week for Tony DiNozzo.

Gibbs certainly knew that, and didn't need Ducky to tell him that rest was just what Tony needed.

The boss left Tony in the squadroom, after telling him to go home.

Gibbs came back, his gut telling him something important was left behind.

He found Tony, asleep in his chair. He woke up his senior agent, figuring DiNozzo wasn't going to recover from several sleepless days at his desk.

Gibbs drove Tony back to his apartment, followed him inside, and made sure his senior agent wasn't going to go anywhere else or do anything besides relax.

Tony laid on the couch, lazily watching some DVD Gibbs had picked at random; it was  _The French Job_ , one of the few DVDs that hadn't been shredded when Tony's apartment was shot up a few months previous.

He watched for 20 minutes, then got up to use the restroom, and open the fridge for a beer, and walk around the apartment, to make sure everything was alright.

And, that Gibbs was nowhere in sight.

As the DVD played in the background, Tony made his way to where Kate the goldfish's bowl was kept.

"You know, I thought I saw  _you_  at her desk, Katie," Tony cooed, as he fed Kate the goldfish. "But it wasn't you. It was Tim's new girlfriend, De- _LI_ -lah."

Tony chuckled, then smiled.

"Nice to see  _he_  found someone," he said, as Kate swam around the bowl. "I hope it sticks...Abby may not like it, though. But I hope he - she -  _both_  of them find someone."

Tony picked up the necklace laying next to Kate's bowl, the same necklace Ziva gave him when he left Israel.

He silently looked at it, and once again every memory, every scent, everything about Ziva flooded back.

This time, he didn't break down in tears.

He looked at Kate, and said Ziva's name.

"Ziva."

She who must not be named.

"Ziva."

 _Move on_ , Gibbs said.

"Ziva."

Just like when Kate Todd died, despite the fact that he himself couldn't get over her death 'just like that'.

"Ziva."

And when Jenny Shepard died.

Of course, there wasn't much time to mourn Jenny, not with being the only agent and working 12-plus hour days aboard the USS Ronald Reagan.

"Ziva."

Tony knew what Gibbs was getting at.

_Move on. Don't live in the past. Don't live in a world that may never be._

"Ziva."

Tony knew that the boss, in his own way, was just as tore up about Ziva's absence as the rest of the team. And that Gibbs, as leader, had to lead, and set the example for everyone else.

It wouldn't look good for Gibbs to be visibly tore up, sleepless, breaking down, trying to beg someone to return who clearly didn't want to be there.

"Ziva."

There were cases to be solved, dirtbags to be caught, people to be helped.

Life went on, the sun rose and fell and rose again, with or without Kate, Paula, Jeanne, Jenny, Jackie, Franks and Ziva and everyone else Tony and his team had lost over the years.

"Ziva."

_But did the boss have to be that adamant about putting it all behind?_

"Ziva."

 _Maybe Gibbs could put her on a shelf and look forward to the next stage,_  Tony thought.

_I can't deal with it the way he is._

_Nor will I._

"Ziva."

He'd move forward, leaving his heart open for the woman whom he still dared to hope would return to him.

All the while, he'd leave his door open for her to return to him.

It wasn't Gibbs whom she gave her necklace to, after all.

"Ziva," Tony said to Kate the goldfish, as he laid the necklace next to her bowl, then started to walk away towards his bedroom, to get some sleep.

And, perhaps, dream of Ziva.


End file.
